SO chuffed you feel up to going, remember we expect a timely report!!!!!!!!

Woo hoo!!! Way to go, Gpanda!! I am soooo happy for you!

Wishing you safe travels and much enjoyment,
BC

Congrats and ask away. What were those dates again Bob....I mean Andy,lol

Aloha!

Great news - glad you can go. Not really that exciting to watch minor league RS players in major league uni's finish out the season for them anyway...

Really looking forward to your report - it's been many years since I was in HKG.

so you are going for -2 days??

Very glad to hear it. Are there poker games in the Macau casinos?

Ask away. There are no stupid questions. (The people who ask the questions ... now that's a different issue.)

Yea!

rizzuto - Don't know about Macau, but Texas Hold 'em is huge in underground clubs in HK. The police just cracked down on a few recently.

Just about every casino in Macau has a poker room

http://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/macau/poker-rooms

Just about every casino in Macau has a poker room

A lot of the places on Soi Nana have poke'er rooms, too.

Good news! Since I'll be there later in the year I'm certainly looking forward to your report.

Good to hear you are up to a long trip to HK. (-2 days,lol).

Enjoy your vacation.

great news mate,,have a cool time, First chance I have had to thank you for your guidance and recommendations with our recent family trip to Thailand. Funny enough after our first trip to ASIA (Thailand) we are now looking at going to Hong Kong and China early next year, so will be awaiting your report.

Keep on running my friend.
T

Rizzuto, you've reached a new low. May your next stay in Japan be in a love nest hotel.

BC

Good job, Panda!

Now remember, a timely trip report!!!

Of course, the trip report will be timely. As always. Is EKS reading this?

Runningrugby, as I may have noted in the past, I was a wing forward for 12 years, playing for the Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC A sides. I was a more svelte panda back then with a mean streak.

Glad you enjoyed Thailand.

Gpanda, as you are well aware, if you're late with the trip report, a penalty will be attached. The penalty will be having His Bobness move in with you for a day for each day your report is late. He'll be there to motivate you and remind you to get the report to us!

BC

Terrific. We expect on the site reporting. For example, should you show up at the wrong airport for your flight, dine on Italian food nightly and/or wander the streets aimlessly without a map. Have a great time.

I will be on call for restaurant advice! No Italian food permitted!

Andy, that's great news that you and Beth will be going to Hong Kong! I'm sure you two will savor every minute of it.
Carol

Bon Voyage, hope you can both get a good sleep on the long flight so that you will be well rested when you arrive. Looking forward to your report. Stay well and have a GREAT tme.
Sue

If you get a hankering for good & inexpensive Indian food while you're staying at the Sheraton, I'll give a strong recommendation to the Woodlands restaurant, about a 5-minute walk away. The restaurant has recently moved -- it's now in the Wing-On Plaza, which is next to the Kowloon Shangri-La. Vegetarian only, which is actually not a bad idea when at most Indian places I know.

I understand that ravenous is not a word to describe Himself recently. That said, still on the Kowloon side, if you're looking for a casual but absolutely excellent buffet for dinner, check out the Cafe Kool in the Shangri-La. Top quality stuff, lots of different cuisines -- perfect when one person wants Chinese, the other wants pasta and dessert, and both feel like some sushi piggery as an appetizer.

Only a clown from billerica would make food recommendations to someone with no appetitite. He probably makes book suggestions to Bob. Calenadars for Ekscrunchy. Fashion tips for Knunwilko.

For the Indian place, I was talking to Beth.

For the buffet place, they have a eucalyptus leaf bar next to the Korean bbq.

Hey! I GAVE Bob a book as a gift! Are you trying to tell me it's serving as a doorstop in Needham, Gpanda???

BC

Great news! Have a wonderful time. HK souds like a perfect place to perk up your apetite, and shopping is always good therapy

Questions:

Where is an ATM at the airport?

What is there to do close to the Courtyard by Marriott on the island?

The HKG airport is new and easy to navigate. There's a single arrival hall after exiting from customs. ATMs (probably called cash machines in HKG) are in the general direction of the exit to the Airport Express train.

Tip: If you're planning to take a taxi to the hotel, either from the airport or from the Airport Express station, get the name & address of the hotel written down in Chinese, either from the hotel's web site or by e-mail. It ill make things slightly easier, as most cabbies aren't perfectly anglophone. If you don't have this, ask whoever helps you get into the cab, either at the airport or at the Airport Express station, to give the info the the cabbie.

Oh, wonderful - Hope you have a great trip!

he speaks mandarin and a number of other dialects so it should not be a problem for him....the driver may have some difficulty understanding him however, but the wild waving of the hands might help...

we are meeting his panderness at a mex restaurant in quincy tonight.... there are plastic bamboo decorations to eat if he does not like the mex offerings...

There are several ATMs in the arrivals hall. Those of HSBC and China Construction Bank are built into the wall, Standard Chartered stand alone. Citibank upstairs in departure level. I won't use one by Travelex as those may charge a fee.

They speak Cantonese in HK, but the symbols are approximately the same.

It looks like your hotel is in Western, older, more Chinese, lots of things to see while walking and gawking.

How long will you be in HK? Wanna take a cooking lesson?

I see now how long you're staying. Forget the cooking lesson.

The ATM business will be easy. China Construction and Bank of America have a deal with no ATM fees.

No cooking lesson, Beth cannot cook.

Wanna take a cooking lesson?

Panda Lo Mein?

We (and the entire North Carolina basketball team) are thrilled to hear that you kids are able to make the long trek after all.

What is the best hospital in Hong Kong and is it on a par with Bumrungard? Forewarned is forearmed.

The University of HK has an excellent medical school and affiliated hospital. The hospital is called Li Ka Shing and is in Western. Dr. Sun Yat Sen went there to medical school. There's another hospital that was recommended to us named Queen Elizabeth, but it's in Kowloon.

Cicerone has a number of "reports," for want of a better word, of lists of reccos for walks and restaurants. One thing to try is private supper clubs. We went to one in Central - prix fixe menu of Schechuan food. I think it's called the Golden Door. You make a reservation in advance, go to a small building, up the elevator six floors, knock three times, then go in for the meal. The whole floor is the restaurant. When we left, the elevator was dodgy, so we walked down the stairs. Getting stuck late at night in HK was not my idea of how to end the evening!

filmwill,

This thread was so upbeat until the mention of an inferior basketball team.

The big hospital affiliated with University of Hong Kong (HKU) is called Queen Mary's Hospital. Li Ka-shing donated money and the faculty of medicine at HKU bears his name, but he has not displaced the Queen's name for the hospital. Queen Mary, along with Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon (and many others like Princess Margaret in Western Kowloon or Prince of Wales in Shatin, etc) are public government-run hospitals. If you get into a car accident nearby, the ambulance will bring you there.

If you know some professors specially that practice at those places, then do go there, but otherwise, no reason to unless you have no private insurance.

There are quite a few private hospitals in Hong Kong. The one that most rich and famous go to is the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital in Happy Valley. Or others may be excellent in certain fields, like Hong Kong Adventist Hospital with its Hong Kong Heart Center is considered the best for cardiac disease and I believe the first heart transplant in HK was performed there.

I'd rather go to a teaching hospital myself.

That is great news. If I have not mentioned it in your other posts, September 22 and 23 are special holidays here. (I can’t quite tell what dates you are here, as the dates you give above are September 17 to September 15, which does not seem to make sense to me.) It is the Mid-Autumn Festival, also called the mooncake or lantern festival. In the week leading up to the festival, if you go to Victoria Park on Hong Kong Island, you will see elaborate lantern displays (evenings are best for this, as they are lit). You will also find paper lanterns for sale in local markets, these could make nice souvenirs. You can also go to Victoria Park on September 22, the actual festival day, to see people out (esp with children) with their lanterns in the park – it’s like a fairly land. For some information on the Mid-Autumn Festival/Lantern Festival, please see http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/events/festival-mid-autumn.html (It appears from the website that there will be lanterns on display along the Kowloon waterfront as well.) If you are here on September 22, a good place to go in the evening is the bar on the top floor of the Park Lane hotel so you can see all the people down in Victoria Park with their thousands of lanterns. Your hotel may have other suggestions for where to see similar displays on the festival evening.

The other “event” during this festival is the exchanging of mooncakes. You will see them for sale everywhere, include Starbucks. Traditionally, these are lotus seed paste with a salted duck egg yolk centre; however these days they come in very many (more palatable) versions like red bean paste or even ice cream versions from Hagan Daz and the aforementioned Starbucks.

September 23 is a public holiday, but shops, restaurants etc will be open per normal. It’s schools, banks, the stock exchange and most offices which are closed. Public transport is running on a holiday schedule, which in many cases means more frequently than weekdays (esp for buses in the New Territories or Lantau).

October 1 is National Day, not sure if you will be here, but there may be fireworks in the harbour that evening. Check with your hotel, I have not been able to confirm yet if there are fireworks (somebody has to pay for them, not sure anyone has stumped up). They would be at 8 or 9 pm.

There are ATMs in the Arrivals Hall near the Airport Express station tracks. (There is also some sort of universal currency cash machine in the middle of the baggage claim hall, but they may charge fees for use, I have not used it.) To get to the ATMs near the Airport Express tracks, after you have gotten off the plane, been through Immigration and collected your bags, you will exit through two sets of doors into the huge arrivals hall. Walk to about the center of the opposite side of the hall, where you will see signs for the Airport Express and Taxis. Follow this short hallway toward the tracks. There ATM machines on the right, before a set of stairs leading up to the Airport Express entrance.

There is a good bit of stuff to see and do around the Courtyard Marriott. Run a search here, as I believe I have posted before. I can hunt for posts as well tomorrow. It’s a very interesting neighborhood.

Should you need medical care while you are here, I would suggest the doctors at either Adventist Hospital (see http://www.hkah.org.hk/) or Maltida Hospital (see http://www.matilda.org/eng/index.php). These are probably the two best private hospitals in Hong Kong. They are both on Hong Kong Island. Also ask your doctor if they have an reccos or affiliations in Hong Kong.

You can also drop me an e-mail at ciceronehongkong@live.hk, however I will be in Vietnam for part of your time here.

We will be in HK from 9/18/10-9/25/10. The Festival will definitely be part of our trip. Having eaten Mexican with His Bobness, we can skip that in HK, but Italian is definitely on the menu. Any Italian suggestions?

Panda, really glad that you are thinking HK again. I understand your concern. It's really good that you are asking questions so ask away.
Cicerone's 'ask your doctor if they have an reccos or affiliations in Hong Kong' is very good advise.
I think your choice of hospital depends on what your type of care you need. Let's say you were experiencing stomach problem, you can go to the any of the private hospital and stay overnight for observation if needed. Adventist hospital on Stubbs road is a good looking hospital, I used to live five minute walking distance from there. In case you are in the neighborhood, you can take a taxi or bus(go upstairs stay in front) to Stanley bay for a nice walk on the beach(not much beach to speak of but it's nice there) and eat in a restaurant with a balcony overlooking the bay, it's relaxing. If you need to receive a specific new chemo drug still on trial, your best bet is the HK Queens' Mary hospital as it is a teaching hospital. The hospitals in BKK cater to medical tourism, in order to get more business, the hospitals do need to look and feel like hotels and getting accredited by Jachco is a super smart business move. My HK friends go to BKK for their annuals too because it's cheaper (not better) and it's a fashionable thing to do. The HK hospitals don't cater to tourists so they don't invest so much on the interior decoration and services. Queen's Mary being a public hospital looked less than basic(20years ago, haven't been there recently), but some of the best specialists are affiliated with that hospital. HK people choose the doctors first and go to whichever hospital that Dr. asks them to go. The problem is I don't know if that hospital take tourists. You may need to email them at http://www3.ha.org.hk/qmh/index.htm. to find out.

For upscale Italian, Nicholini's in the Conrad Hotel is a very good choice. The Conrad is in Pacific Place, at the Admiralty MTR station.

These are the reccos of a top oncologist:

Dr Poon neurosurgery at Chinese university
Dr Gilberto Leung at Queen Mary's Hospital

top doctores require top quality patients....this may not be the case here...

Oh, just check the back pages of Cathay Pacific's inflight magazine and see if they have lists of "Top Ten Doctors of HK".

Panda, Poon is a popular last name. You better get the first name just in case.

It's Dr. Wai Sang Poon at Chinese University:
http://www.surgery.cuhk.edu.hk/staff/default.asp

He's the chief of neurosurgery there.

BC

Same info, I got from my oncologist, who passed along the reccos from Dr. Philp Wen, the head honcho in brain cancer at Dana Farber. Hopefully, all this is extra information.

Trying to get all my drug prescriptions filled and interfacing with insurance companies. Loads of fun.

A colleague of my husband's was treated at Queen Mary's (HKU hospital) a couple of years ago. In fact, I think he was there twice, although he was a scholar in residence at HKU at the time. HKU is in Western. Don't know where CU is located.

Good luck and have a fabulous trip!

Andy, I'm so glad you are feeling up to this trip. Hong Kong is a wonderful city, and I'm sure and Beth will have a great time.

We do expect a timely report, of course.

Chinese University is in the New Territories, between Shatin and Tai Po. Their main teaching hospital is Prince of Wales Hospital in Tai Wai, just south of Shatin.

We took the airport shuttle service. Takes a bit longer because it stops at various hotels, but the bus was comfortable and much cheaper than a taxi (about 140 HKD if I rememeber). Think a taxi is closer to 350 HKD but obviously a tad quicker and convenient.
Mooncakes: blech.